Court fees going up next month

Court fees are going up. In some cases, quite a bit
As the State's Office of Legislative Research says on its blog,

On July 1, 2012, increased court filing fees for various matters take effect, as a result of PA 12-89. The fee increases include, among other things, a $50 increase in the general civil filing fee (from $300 to $350) and a new $600 fee for filing a motion for admission pro hac vice.

Pro Hac Vice motions are filed when a lawyer wants to take part in a case that day.And it's all for a good cause. As the OLR reports, "70 percent of the revenue from the act’s fee increases will fund legal services for the poor, and the rest will go to the Judicial Branch’s Data Processing Revolving Fund to maintain and improve the branch’s informational processing system."Check out the full list of fee increases.

Get ready for reindeer

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has signed every bill he plans to this year. Among the group of bills-made-laws signed Friday is one that will make Santa Claus very happy.Public act 12-127 is intended to "authorize establishment of in-state captive herds of cervids, including, but not limited to, reindeer."At the start of the Environment Committee's public hearing on the bill, Chairman Sen. Ed Meyer noted the committee's tasks for the day: "We're taking up taxes, reindeer, bamboo, and biting dogs. So it's just a remarkable agenda," he said.
Rep. William Aman explained later in the meeting why the bill was important, "a serious issue for one of my constituents":

Up to early around 2000 reindeer were allowed to be brought into this state. They weren't regulated. Chronic wasting disease is a very, very terrible disease. I was worried at that time, around the early 2000's, that it was spreading rapidly through native deer around the country, and in so the importation of any type of deer was stopped or severely eliminated, not only in Connecticut, but around the rest of the country.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the bill had its origins in economic distress. John Dzen, Jr., owner of Dzen Tree Farm, which has about 100 acres of "choose and cut your own Christmas trees in South Windsor," said "Our business like many agricultural businesses in Connecticut is becoming more dependent on the theme of agri-entertainment. In years past we have rented reindeer for the month of December for their educational and entertainment value to our customers. The price of a one-month rental meets or exceeds the cost of year round animal care. If we owned reindeer there were would be other opportunities to use them to produce income."
So get ready, Connecticut. Christmas will be considerably more authentic this year. As Dzen told the committee, don't expect lone reindeer wandering around.

"Reindeer are pack animals, so it's not possible to have one. Starting on a small scale would be two," he said.

Laborers to rally against Rowland

According to a release, The Connecticut Laborers' District Council announced today that it will hold a "major protest action" against WTIC-AM Radio personality and former Gov. John Rowland in front of the CBS Radio/WTIC Radio Studios tomorrow. According to the release, "The Connecticut Laborers' are protesting Rowland's continual biased and hateful talk against unions, public projects such as the CTfastrak (Busway) project and the spending of state tax dollars." "The John Rowland that I remember as governor of Connecticut always supported public projects and understood how to grow the local economy. His present show is now all trash talk radio. It's really become 'hate' radio every weekday afternoon. We're supporting a boycott of his advertisers and the radio station as well," said Charles LeConche, business manager, Connecticut Laborers' District Council. "Our organization will also be petitioning the Federal Communications Commission about this CBS Radio outlet's handling of trash talk and biased information without offering the opportunity to present different points of view. I would like to invite all Connecticut workers to join us at this protest this coming Thursday afternoon." The protest takes place at CBS Radio Studios, 10 Executive Drive, Farmington, 2 p.m. Thursday.

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The Connecticut State Politics blog covers news of New Haven politics and from the seat of Connecticut's government and the state's elected leaders with a variety original reporting from Journal Register Connecticut staff, links to stories from other media and politics blogs, press releases, statements and more.